The Story of Oskar Barnack & the Pix
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the LHSA, an English translation of Ulf Richter’s wonderful book, “Oskar Barnack – From the Idea to the Leica” was published and made available to the membership. If you don’t already own it, I encourage you to obtain a copy. In the book, Ulf talks about Barnack’s life, with chapters devoted to his childhood and education, and his earlier work life before he came to Leitz in 1910, culminating in his greatest invention - the Leica camera.
In the chapter on Barnack’s time in Jena, my attention was drawn to a letter written by Barnack. Right away, several things about the letter caught my attention. First it was in Barnack’s own handwriting in ink, which is pretty rare in that we are used to seeing only the short notes and drawings Barnack wrote in pencil about his mechanical designs. Second, there were several “notes” written in the margins of the letter, one of them, in the lower left by Barnack himself. Looking at the translation of Barnack’s hard to decipher handwriting, we find that this was essentially a thank you note from Barnack to a Herr August Leistenschneider dated 9 August 1933, for the beautiful mechanical pencil he had sent to him. He promises to use it and report back to him with his opinion of it. In closing, Barnack extends his best wishes to Leistenschneider and his son.
Original note from Oskar barnack to August Leistenschneider, thanking him for the gift of the Montblanc PIX mechanical pencil, dated 9 August, 1933. Barnack promises to use it and report back to him with his opinion of it. Of special interest are the additional notes on the letter written by Barnack and Leistenschneider. Barnack's comment in the lower left corner states that he had in fact designed a mechanical pencil for Herr Hermann while at Zeiss and had applied for a patent on it. He then states that he had forgotten all about this, and that, "you will hear from me about this matter". The other notes on the letter are from August Leistenschneider at one must assume were at several later dates. The note in red pencil under Barnack's signature, acknowledges that Barnack, designer of the Leica camera, worked on what became the PIX in 1909. The note in blue ink in the upper left corner, dated 20 January 1940 mentions that, "He (Barnack) was with me from 1900 to 1901 at the Palmos camera works, and then at Zeiss in Jena. Barnack was already making automatic pencil experiments for me in Jena. Later at Leitz, Wetzlar in 1924, he showed me the first model of the Leica. I was a friend of Barnack until his death. He still visited me in Bad Wildungen." Courtesy of the Rolf Fricke collection, via Ulf Richter.
More interesting is Barnack’s notation in the lower left corner and the two other notes by Leistenschneider on other parts of the letter. Barnack’s addi- tional note discusses that he had in fact designed a mechanical pencil in 1909 at the encouragement of a Herr Hermann at Zeiss, and mentions that he had applied for a patent on it. He further remarks that he had forgotten about this all together. “So, you will hear from me about this matter”. Barnack and Leistenschneider were colleagues and had known each other since 1900 when they were both at the Palmos Kamerawerk, and from 1902 at Carl Zeiss, Jena. We all know that Barnack later went on to work for Ernst Leitz in Wetzlar in 1910. August Leistenschneider went from Zeiss to open his own “Leistenschneider’s Düsseldorfer Photohaus” on Schadowstraße in Düsseldorf in 1918.
The note in red pencil by Leistenschneider below Barnack’s signature states that Barnack, “Konstrukteur” (Designer) of the Leica Camera, worked on the PIX in 1909. Further notes in the upper left corner in blue ink by Leistenschneider, perhaps with an eye to posterity, again mentions that Oskar Barnack was the designer of the world-renowned Leica camera. “He was with me from 1900 to 1901 at the Palmos camera works and then at Zeiss in Jena. Barnack was already making automatic pencil experiments for me in Jena. Later, at Leitz Wetzlar in 1924, he showed me the first model of the Leica. I was a friend of Barnack until his death. He still visited me in Bad Wildungen.” This note was dated 20 January 1940.
This letter and its notes discuss the popular Montblanc PIX mechanical pencil which Ulf shows on the page prior to the PIX letter, with the PIX placed upon one of Barnack’s pencil notes from the early 1930’s. Ulf ’s caption reads, “The Montblanc PIX mechanical pencil designed by Barnack for August Leistenschneider”. We know from Ulf ’s book that Barnack was constantly working on everyday items to improve them with small “technical improvements”. He was what one would call a “tinkerer”. Ulf makes some further remarks about Barnack, “it was very understandable that he was striving for a simplification of a much-used writing tool. A small downward pressure and one quickly continues with a fresh lead, the cumbersome and time-consuming pencil sharpening is eliminated.”
Now Ulf had my attention. What was this Montblanc PIX pencil, and who was the Herr Leistenschneider mentioned in the letter? Of course, I accepted my own challenge to find out everything there was to know about the PIX. Where to begin? I was very familiar with Montblanc fountain pens and have been using several No. 149 Meisterstücks since the early 1970’s. I even have a Montblanc mechanical pencil, but it was nothing like the PIX that was pictured. An internet search revealed there were several for sale on German eBay, and of course I bought one or two! In his on-line store listing, the seller had shown several period advertisements for the PIX. In the advertisements, which I have reproduced here, the unique mechanism of the PIX is shown in cross section. A lead refill chamber (Minenkammer) is loaded with up to ten leads (Minen) from the rear of the pencil after removing the cap that covers it. From there, the leads are fed down a tube to the pencil tip, encircled by the spring-loaded feed mechanism activated by the rear button. Upon pushing the rear button, the pencil gives a reassuring “click” confirming that the lead had been fed forward. At the tip of the pencil, the lead is held firmly in place by a locking sleeve or “collet”, which in turn prevents it from retracting back into the barrel of the pencil. To ensure that the lead stays intact and does not break in use, a unique tapered metal tip (Schreibspitze) over the locking sleeve is cut with three tangential spirals. I feel that this is the mechanism that Barnack worked on while at Zeiss at the urging of Herrmann and Leistenschneider. Perhaps Barnack also worked on the push button auto feed mechanism as well.
Of course, the PIX was not the first successful mechanical pencil in use, but it solved many of the problems seen in many earlier models. A similar locking sleeve is still used in today’s mechanical pencils, and the push button, spring activated feed mechanism is also still in use. One of the more inter- esting images Montblanc used in their ads was the fantastic concept that six tiny factory workers, sleeves rolled, were laboring inside the PIX, taking leads from the stockpile at the rear of the pencil and feeding them down an assembly line to the tip for writing. These little workmen even had tiny stools to sit on when they were not hard at work feeding lead through the PIX. The ad copy reads “Druck auf Druck – Mine auf Mine wandert zur Schreibspitze. Die Spezialfabrik in der Westentasche“ (Push after Push – Lead after Lead moves to the Writing Tip. The Special Factory in your Vest Pocket).
I reached out to Ulf Richter as well, and we have had quite a bit of correspondence regarding the PIX. Ulf supplied me with the original German patent for Leistenschneider’s mechanical pencil, and also that of an earlier mechanical pencil described in a Swiss patent from 1906 by an Eduard Penkala from Croatia. We are relatively certain that Penkala’s refill pencil was in use at Zeiss during Barnack’s, Carl Herrmann’s and Leistenschneider’s time there. A pencil was an ever present and essential tool in the environment which Barnack and the others around him in the Drafting, Design and Mechanical Bureaus would use on an everyday basis. Barnack made countless pencil sketches and notes, and at some point, he must have realized the writing tool in his hand on a constant basis could be “improved” upon. Examining Penkala’s patent reveals what appears to be a simple sleeve into which a lead is inserted, holding the lead while writing. Only one lead at a time can be inserted into the sleeve. There appears to be no way of holding the lead fixed in place mechanically, and if too much pressure is put on the pencil lead while writing, the lead would slide back into the tube. There was also no provision for storing additional leads in the pencil. This would certainly be inconvenient in use, and likely got Barnack to thinking there must be “a better way” of doing this. Apparently, at some point during his time at Zeiss, Carl Herrmann urged Barnack to work on a solution to this problem, along with Leistenschneider. Barnack’s own notes to his letter confirm that he did design an improved mechanical pencil in 1909, and applied for a patent. At this point, the story of the PIX becomes less clear. Barnack departs to work at Leitz in 1910, World War I started in 1914, and Leistenschneider moves on from Zeiss to his Düsseldorfer Photohaus, which he takes over in 1918. Did Barnack ever really apply for a patent, and if so, was it rejected by the Reichspatentamt? Or did he simply fail to follow through with it, being otherwise occupied with his discussions with Ernst Leitz and his subsequent move to Wetzlar, letting the matter drop? At what point did Leistenschneider take up Barnack’s work on the mechanical pencil, work on filing a patent and actually getting an actual mechanical pencil produced for sale in Düsseldorf, all the while running his camera store? One would have to believe that Leistenschneider continued to work on the mechanical pencil after 1909, but we have no documentation of this before the patent documents were actually filed 22 years later. At some point, he named his mechanical pencil the PIX.
Our timeline moves on to 1931, when the original Reichspatentamt (Reichspatent Office) Patentschrift DRP Nr.569824 was filed on 20 December 1931 by August Leistenschneider of Düsseldorf for a Füllbleistift (Filling Pencil). The patent was granted on 19 January 1933. The Reichspatentamt was located in Berlin. According to Ulf, a patent must satisfy three requirements according to the German patent law:
The invention must be new, which means it is not the existing, current “state of the art”. In addition, it has not been discussed verbally or in writing, or already being used in the market.
The solution to the problem the patent proposes must not be clear to everyone. The inventor must take novel steps to solve the engineering problem, which are not obvious to everyone.
The invention must have a commercial or industrial use.
The patent office would then investigate the patent application, and if all the requirements were met, the complete patent document would be published in the official Patent Journal (Patentblatt) and at that point the patent rights begin. Needless to say, this process usually took some time, sometimes several years, to be completed.
The US Patent filings discovered refer to two further German patents, Patentschrift DRP (Deutsches Reichspatent) Nr. 647152 filed on 19 December 1931 and granted on 14 December 1932 and Patentschrift DRP Nr. 708801, filed on 31 January 1933 and granted on 29 January 1934. Strangely, the two German patents referred to in the US Patent applications have nothing to do with the PIX mechanical pencil! US Patent 1,969,085 filed with the US Patent Office on December 14, 1932, based on Patentschrift DRP Nr. 647152. The patent was for an “Automatic Lead Pencil”, patent holders August Leistenschnei- der and Konrad Kressel. This US Patent was granted on August 7, 1934. A second US Patent 2,049,965 was filed on January January 29, 1934, based on Patentschrift DRP Nr. 708,801. This patent was for a “Lead Pencil”, patent holder August Leistenschneider, US Patent granted on August 4, 1936. The drawings submitted with all of these patents generally resemble the PIX, but have many detail changes from what is shown of the cross section of the actual PIX in the Montblanc advertisements. Perhaps these drawings more closely resemble the predecessor of the PIX pencil produced in Düsseldorf that Montblanc’s history refers to.
At this point, I refer to the Montblanc narrative pertaining to the PIX in their book Montblanc Diary and Collector’s Guide. According to the Guide, “Montblanc had introduced their own mechanical pencil with a push button mechanism known as the OB. However, the OB was not a great success as its operation was too complicated. It was not until 1934 that the management (Montblanc in Hamburg) obtained the rights for a functional push-mechanism pencil, which was named PIX. The push mechanism of the PIX pencil was developed by a Mr. Leistenschneider for a firm in Düsseldorf and was put on the market in late 1933. Montblanc quickly recognized the enormous advantage of this multiple-refill writing instrument over conventional mechanical pencils and persuaded Mr. Leistenschneider to put his invention to work for Montblanc.” In tune with the times, Montblanc offered the starter model “Volkspix” Model 92 (the People’s PIX) in 1934, for the very affordable price of 3 RM! Seven other models were offered, with the most expensive one being 6,50 RM! The PIX continued to be sold until the late 1950’s and was one of Montblanc’s most successful product groups. Montblanc stated that, “one of the factors that contributed to its success was the typical clicking sound made when the mechanism was actuated. This sound could be heard everywhere writing was done!”
Today, vintage Montblanc PIX pencils can be found on German eBay and various pen enthusiasts web sites. Prices vary between EUR 45 and EUR 200! Of course, as with the Leica, condition is paramount. I have obtained several PIX pencils of my own, and they are quite usable and compare quite well to my modern Pentel GraphGear 1000. One weak point is that the barrel is made out of Bakelite, which like the Vulcanite on the original Leicas, is petroleum based and can be fragile when subjected to rough handling or being dropped. Another problem is the lead size, which is typically 1.5mm for the early models and 1.2mm for the later PIX. These lead sizes can be difficult to find, as today’s typical leads are .5mm and .7mm. Later versions of the PIX appeared with metal barrels, in addition to the traditional Bakelite material.
Peter Karbe, Chief of Optical Design at Leica, makes a drawing with my PIX, illustrating a lens design to us at the Leitz Cafe, as David Farkas and Jonathan Slack look on.
As an interesting aside, I had my PIX with me while at Leitz Park for the dedication of Leitz Park III in 2018. I was sitting with David Farkas, Josh Lehrer, Jono Slack and Alan Weinschel in the Café Leitz when Peter Karbe, Head of Optical Design, joined our group. While explaining one of the finer points of Leica lens design, Peter asked for something to write with to help illustrate what he was talking about. I handed him my PIX, which Peter used with great effect. How appropriate that Peter was using a writing instrument that Oskar Barnack had a hand in designing!
And whatever became of Herr Leistenschneider? As we know, he went from Zeiss Jena to establish his Düsseldorfer Photohaus in 1918. Apparently, Leistenschneider Foto became a great success and is still in business near its original location on Schadow- straße in Düsseldorf and the fourth generation of the family is still involved in the business. They are still Leica dealers, having been one of the first in 1925. There are also branch stores in several other cities in Germany.
I would like to thank Ulf Richter for his help on this story, and for his wonderful book on Barnack’s life. Ulf was very generous with his time explaining the ins and outs of German patent laws and application process, and for helping fill in some of the blanks in this story. Ulf also provided some of the images of the Leistenschneider Photo store and the original Barnack letter in Rolf Fricke’s collection. I’d also like to thank Doug Drumheller for his help in obtaining actual copies of the patents of interest in the history of the PIX. These arcane documents give tremendous insight into how these wonderful little mechanical pencils work. Doug was also the prime mover behind getting Rolf Fricke’s translation of Ulf ’s book printed for the LHSA. Thanks also to Hans Freudenblum for providing me with the vintage advertisements of the Montblanc PIX when I purchased a PIX from him. Finally, thanks also to my mom who taught me to appreciate fountain pens and bought me my first Montblanc 149 back in my college days!
sources:
Herrmann, Carl, Erinnerung an Oskar Barnack
(Memories of Oskar Barnack), Foto Magazin, 1961, No.1, p.22
Leistenschneider, August, Erinnerung und Feststellungen
(Memories and Insights), Photo Magazin, 1949, No.12, p.12
Richter, Ulf, Oskar Barnack – From the Idea to the Leica, Translation by Rolfe Fricke, LHSA, 2009/2017 Rösler, Jens, Montblanc Diary and Collector’s Guide, Christians Verlag, 1993